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Monday, 3 August 2015

Floating Bus Stops in Victoria

Floating bus stops are the hottest thing in active transportation planning right now. All the cool planners are talking about them (#MyBusStopsFloat). The reason they're so hot is because they resolve the longstanding conflict between buses, bus stops and bicycles. Chris Iverson over at Street.mn explains it best:

Floating bus stops are bumped-out bulbs which have a bike lane running behind the bus stop amenities. This simple configuration allows transit vehicles to stay in their own lane without jumping in front of cyclists, and gives cyclists added protection from vehicular traffic at the bus stop. This design is truly a win-win for both transit operators and bike riders.

The key advantage is the 'win-win' for both transit and bike riders. Usually, these two groups are left fighting over the leftover scraps of space on the side of the road. With floating bus stops, everyone gets exactly what they want. It's the KFC Mega Bucket of active transportation planning.

And guess what? We already have a floating bus stop in Victoria!

The stop is located on northbound Cedar Hill Road at Rowan Street (right next to Doncaster Elementary School) in Saanich. Based on the configuration of the adjacent Garry Oak trees, I suspect that this floating bus stop was designed through adaptation (building around the protected tree) as opposed to innovation. But hey, necessity is the mother of all invention! Below are a couple more photos.

So there you go South Islanders, we have some precedence for this design. Now let's make some more.